The Kidnapping That Ended With One Oilman Outsmarting Machine Gun Kelly
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 1 August 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Charles Urschel had money, influence, and a target on his back. When Machine Gun Kelly broke into his home and took him hostage, it seemed like just another high-profile crime in a lawless era. But Urschel didn’t panic. Instead, he took mental notes, tracking every moment, every voice, every clue. His memory became the FBI’s secret weapon and led to one of the first major takedowns of America’s new wave of gangsters. With insight from Joe Urschel and Dr. T. Lindsey Baker, this is the story of how a businessman played a crucial role in bringing down one of the most infamous names in 1930s crime.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | Your entire identity has been fabricated. |
| 0:07.4 | Your beloved brother goes missing without a trace. |
| 0:10.4 | You discover the depths of your mother's illness. |
| 0:13.2 | I'm Danny Shapiro. |
| 0:14.1 | And these are just a few of the powerful stories I'll be mining on our upcoming 12th season of Family Secrets. We continue to be moved |
| 0:22.9 | and inspired by our guests and their courageously told stories. Listen to Family Secrets |
| 0:29.1 | Season 12 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:35.0 | From tips for healthy living to the latest medical breakthroughs, WebMD's |
| 0:39.4 | Health Discovered podcast keeps you up to date on today's most important health issues. |
| 0:44.4 | Through in-depth conversations with experts from across the health care community, |
| 0:48.5 | WebMD reveals how today's health news will impact your life tomorrow. |
| 0:52.7 | It's not that people don't know that exercise is |
| 0:54.8 | healthy. It's just that people don't know why it's healthy. And we're struggling to try to help people |
| 0:59.2 | help themselves and each other. Listen to WebMD Health Discovered on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you |
| 1:05.0 | get your podcasts. If you're looking for another heavy podcast about trauma, the saying it. |
| 1:10.8 | This is for the ones who had to survive and |
| 1:12.8 | still show up as brilliant, loud, soft, and whole. The unwanted sorority is where black women, |
| 1:18.6 | femmes, and gender expansive survivors of sexual violence rewrite the rules on healing, support, |
| 1:23.8 | and what happens after. And I'm your host and co-president of this organization, Dr. |
| 1:28.5 | Leitra Tate. Listen to the unwanted sorority, new episodes every Thursday on the IHeart Radio app, |
| 1:34.4 | Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Summer's here, and with the kids home and off to camp, |
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